Weekly blues jam at Courtyard by Marriott in Livermore, Ca., which features the Bay Area Blues Society Caravan of All Stars, the band which headlines the show.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The San Francisco Chronicle less

Weekly blues jam at Courtyard by Marriott in Livermore, Ca., which features the Bay Area Blues Society Caravan of All Stars, the band which headlines the show.
Carlos Avila Gonzalez / The San Francisco ... more

Photo: Carlos Avila Gonzalez

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THE ARTS / Blues Society trying to get the Tri-Valley into a jam / Audience invited to sit in on weekly gigs in Livermore

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Wednesday is generally known as hump day, but in the Tri-Valley, it may soon be dubbed blues night.

That's because the Bay Area Blues Society, which this year has staged the Hayward-Russell City Blues Festival and the Vallejo Blues and Heritage Festival, as well as other events, is bringing a free live blues jam to Livermore.

From 7 to 11 p.m. at the Courtyard by Marriott Hotel, the society's band, the Caravan of All-Stars Revue, will perform. Although that group is the main attraction, concertgoers are also encouraged to bring an instrument, take the stage and show off their blues licks.

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It's another installment of the society's celebration of 2003 being designated the Year of the Blues by Congress.

The designation acknowledges the blues as "an important documentation of African American culture in the 20th century, and the most influential form of American roots music, with its impact heard around the world in rock and roll, rhythm, country even classical music."

The jams started this week. Courtyard General Manager Pat Mitchell expects the weekly shows to run through mid-December, and she would like them to continue longer.

Mitchell said she could think of only a couple of venues in the Tri- Valley that offer live blues on a regular basis. And there's certainly nothing on the scale of these jams, which will enable fans to satiate their blues appetites without leaving the area.

"We want to bring the blues into unserved areas," said the Bay Area Blues Society's Ronnie Stewart, a guitarist with the band. "We want people in the area to hear real West Coast blues. We're going full bore to perpetuate the idea that this is the year of the blues. Livermore, Pleasanton (and central Contra Costa County) is a market we're trying to push."

"It's a nice, clean well-lit place. People will come out. It's going to be all right. People really like blues jams, and I anticipate it will be a happening place on Wednesdays."

So does Mitchell, who has been friends with Stewart since he put on shows for her when she worked at another hotel more than a decade ago. Mitchell said Livermore isn't normally considered a destination for a good time, but these jams could change that.

"Livermore needs more notoriety," Mitchell said. "This is a way to bring more fun into the city. It's perfect for this area. Blues tends to draw a more educated, older audience. (A lot of) grownups want to go out and have a nice evening in Livermore."

Of course, the blues jams aren't just for locals. This hotel caters to business travelers, and they generally don't want to hear 50 Cent or Kid Rock when they go to the lounge to unwind.

"A natural for a hotel to do is blues," Mitchell said. "It's a perfect surrounding and not a piano bar kind of thing. It's not crazy, high-energy rock and roll, new age or disco. Blues just seems to have a way of inviting people in and making them comfortable.

"(It makes it feel) OK to be sitting by yourself and having a drink. (Business travelers generally) don't like to go in the bar by themselves."

Then again, they can also become part of the show. Stewart said the chance to play with a top-flight professional group will draw wannabe bluesmen and women to the shows.

And Stewart doesn't expect the jammers to play guitar like Muddy Waters or sing like Howlin' Wolf, either.

"A lot of people are proficient enough to (sit in) with the band," Stewart said. "Just know two or three songs, sit in and have fun. As long as you know what you can play and can find the keys (that's fine). You don't have to be professional, just enthusiastic."

Mitchell is so enthusiastic about the jam's potential that she's hoping it will be a fixture at the hotel.

"I can't see why it can't be a permanent thing that goes on as long as it can," Mitchell said.

Jammin'

The Bay Area Blues Society's blues jams are held 7 to 11 p.m. Wednesdays at the Courtyard by Marriott in Livermore, 2929 Constitution Dr. Call the hotel at (925) 243-1000, or the Blues Society at (707) 836-2227 or (707) 647- 3962.